Colony

#include <mex.h>

#include <unistd.h>

pthread_t counter;

void* count(void* arg);

int first_time = 0, global = 0;

void mexFunction(int nlhs, 

        mxArray* ret[], int nrhs, const mxArray* args[])

{

        //deliberately ignore nrhs.        

        if(nlhs != 1){

                mexErrMsgTxt("Error - only returns one number.\n");

        }

        else{

                if(first_time){

                        //Deploy a thread to count.

                        pthread_create(&counter, NULL, count, NULL);

                }

                ret[0] = mxCreateDoubleMatrix(1, 1, mxREAL);

                double* value = mxGetPr(ret[0]);

                *value = (double)global;        

        }

}

void* count(void* arg){

        global++;

        usleep(10000);

}